Victoria Road and Furnax Road plans recommended for refusal by Town Council

At Monday’s Planning Advisory Committee meeting councillors debated revised plans put forward for dwellings behind the new Cooperative store at Victoria Road and revised plans for 15 small business starter units at Furnax Lane.
Councillors had supported previous plans for a development at Victoria Road but the latest plans submitted were for four 3-bedroom and four 4-bedroom dwellings. This was regarded as overdevelopment and the plans did not conform to the Building for Life 12 principles that form part of the policies in the Neighbourhood Plan. Councillors recommended that the developers be asked to return to their original proposals.
Residents of Bath Road and Furnax Lane as well as councillors had supported the original application for the 15 small business starter units at Furnax Lane because the developers had produced a positive site plan that respected residents’ privacy with the hours of operation reflecting the proximity of residential properties. The revised plans had asked for a variation on the original plans to allow for a proposed new cladding system and amendments to the delivery and operational hours to enable a 24-hour operation. It had also asked for the removal of condition 6 relating to the requirement of a BREEAM certificate. Residents were opposed to the request for a 24-hour operation because of the noise disturbance at night and the need for lighting.
Following a lengthy discussion, councillors recommended that the delivery hours should be restricted to between the hours of 6am until midnight to reduce the impact on the neighbouring properties. They recommended acceptance of the removal of condition 6 relating to the BREEAM certificate, but asked for all the original conditions to remain. Councillor Jolley said: “It’s always good to see people coming to meetings to express their views. We always wish to take these on board when making our decisions.”